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ELECTRICAL TICKET EXHIBITING MACHINE.

No. 352,086. Patented Nov. 2, 1886.

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H. J. ENNIS.

ELECTRICAL TICKET EXHIBITING MACHINE. N0.'3.52,086. f Patented Nov. 2, 1886.

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H. J. ENNIS. I

ELECTRICAL TICKET EXHIBITINC MACHINE. No. 352,086. Patented Nov. 2, 1886.

UNITED STATES PATENT OrFicE. I

HENRY J. ENNIS, OF VASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR TO JOHN E. TALTY, OF SAME PLACE. I

ELECTRICAL TICKET-EXHIBITING MACHINE.

EBPBCIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 352,086, dated November 2, 1886.

Application filed May "28, 1886. Seria1No.203,573. (No model.) 7

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY J. ENNIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at WVashington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electrical Ticket-Exhibiting Machines; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description'of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it ap- 10 pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to machines for automatically feedingand exhibiting successive tickets at a window or windows in aface-plate or casing, for the purposes of attractive advertising, for educating the young to the differ- ;o ences in shape and configuration of letters,

and of animals, illustrations of the different kinds of which may appear upon ihe tickets, and for the purposes of playing games for amusement-es, for example, illustrating the 2 5 manner and methods of stock-exchanges and the rapid and varying changes that take place in the prices of various stocks. I wish it to be understood, however, that my improved machine may be used for various purposes, 0 the ends of which can be subserved by the rapid exhibition ofsnccessive tickets, the faces of which may contain any desired marks, letters, sign, indication, or illustration. I wish it also to be understood here at the outset that some of the improvements and combinations of parts and devices claimed herein by me may be used without the others, and in machines organized in different ways, and also that the details may be varied without departing from my invention and from the claims therefor herein made.

I have made some radical improvements in ticket feeding and exhibiting machines, and I will describe them as embodied in a machine 5 for illustrating and exhibiting stock quotations, as an example of their operation, my said improvements being organized in the best way no W known to me for that purpose.

The object of my invention is to provide an improved ticket feeding and exhibiting machine, and to improve the construction and organization of various parts of such machines; and my invention consists, generally stated, in a novel method of feeding the tickets, and in certain novel combinations of parts and devices, which I will first describe in detail as organized in the preferred way, as stated above, and will then particularly recite them in claims at the close of this specification.

In the accompanying drawings, which show my improved machine for feeding and exhibiting tickets, Figure l is a front elevation of the improved apparatus. Fig. 2 is a side ele- Vation of said machine, with a portion of the ticket-box or receptacle broken away. Fig.

3 is a view partially in side elevation and partially in vertical section on the line 3 3 of Fig.

4-. Fig. 4 is an enlarged partial plan of and partial section through the machine on the line 4 at of Figs. 2 and 3, showing more particularly the motor which drives the feed-rollers, and the organization of the circuit-breakers and arrangement of parts for disconnecting the motor from the feeding mechanism. Fig. 5 is a rear view of the face-plate and portions of the mechanism connected therewith, parts of the apparatus being in section. Fig.

6 is a diagrammatic illustration ofthe operative parts, showing more clearly the general organization of the machine and the running of the circuits of the electrical portions thereof. 7

A base-board or platform, A, is provided with a vertical face-plate, B, which may be supported by two side posts, 0 G, or in any other suitable way. This faceplate B is pro vided with one or more windows or openings, 1) 1), (preferably two,) through which the illustrations, signs, marks, quotations, or other indications 011 the tickets are exhibited. Below c the said windows b b is another opening, I), through which the ticket or tickets which have been exhibited at the openings 1) b may bedischarged onthe feeding or before the feeding of a new ticket or tickets by the machine for 5 exhibition at the windows I) b. The mechanism for feeding the tickets is located behind the face-plate B, and is organized to feed the tickets successively and at predetermined intervals-say two at every half-minute. This interval of succession is determined and announced by a clock, D, which sounds an alarm and throws the feeding mechanism into operation, (say at every half-minute,) so that a ticket or tickets is fed successively at regular intervals to exhibit its indication at the windows, while just before the feeding operation is commenced, the fact thereof is announced by the alarm to call attention thereto. The clock D may be one of well-known or ordinary construction, except as mentioned below, and is preferably located at or near the top of the face-plate B, so as to haveits indications (time) conspicuously displayed.

The tickets to be fed and exhibited are properly piled, with their indicating-faces upward, in a ticket box, rack, receptacle, or guide, E, just back of the face-plate and above the ticket feeding mechanism of the machine. This ticket-box is preferably a skeleton box vertically arranged upon a supporting-frame, I, where by the tickets may be readily inserted in the box, and descend by gravity gradually, as the lower ones are positively fed out of the box for exhibition.

In order to relieve the lower tickets and the feed mechanism of the weight of a large pile of tickets, I may employ a brake-plate, c, from which the tickets may slip to supply the place of the few below said plate as they are fed out by the feeding mechanism. The supportingframe F of the ticket-box is also the supporting-frame of the feeding devices, which are arranged at the back of the face-plate B. Said supporting-frame F preferably consists of two side plates, ff, between which various parts of the feeding mechanism are mounted, and of supportingpostsff-one at the rear end of each of said side plates, f, for example. The front ends of said side plates are preferably secured to or supported by the back face of the face-plate B.

The feeding mechanism of the machine pref erably consists of two feed-rollers, G G, one in front of the other and somewhat lower in its plane of revolution, the shafts of which are fitted to revolve in suitable hearings in the side plates, ff, of the frame F, between which said rollers revolve. Said feed-rollers are located just beneath the lower open end of the ticket box or guide E. Said feed-rollers are geared together, so as to revolve in the same direction and at the same speed, by a train of gearing, H. I prefer two feed-rollers beneath the ticket-box to feed the tickets forward positively but of course the number may be greater or less than two. One feed-roller in my experience does not operate sowell as the two, but may of course be employed in some cases. The feed-rollers are operated intermittently or at intervals as the tickets are to be fed, and they are driven by a gear-connection, I, with the revolving armature-shaft .I of an electro-magnetic motor, K, having suitablev circuit-connections with a galvanic battery, L, or other source of electricity.

In rear of the face-plate Bis mounted a plate,

M, so as to form a space or passage, on, at the rear of the face-plate 13, through which the tickets are fed or dropped and in which they 7 are held for the proper length of time with their indications exhibited at the windows of said face-plate. The sides of this passage on are closed, but it is open at top and bottom. The upper end of the plate M is bent backwardly and ends just in front of the first feed roller G. In order to forma guide-slot forthc tickets to the feed-passage m, I provide a plate,

N, which is preferably adjustable vertieally by a slot and set-screw, for examplethe lower edge of which lies just above the upper end of the plate M. The ticket-slot m, therefore, may be just of sufficient width to permit the feeding through it by the rollersG G of a single ticket at a time, and avoid accidentally or irregularly feeding more than one at a time, which would disarrange the operation of the machine. The lower end of the ticket-passage m is open for. the discharge of the tickets through the opening b in the face-plate B after they have served their purpose at the windows b I). The tickets, as they drop from the ticketpassage m, fall on an inclined shelf or chute, b", which directs them regularly out to the front of the machine through the dischargeopening I) in the face-plate thereof.

Mounted upon the back of the face-plate I5 and plate M, secured thereto, are several rockshafts. A. rock-shaft, O, is fitted to rock on the back of the faceplate B, and is provided with a lateral or crank arm, 0, and is connected through said arm 0 by a wire or link, or other connection, 19, with a lateral or crank arm, 1;, of a rock-shaft, P, fitted to rock on the back ofthe plate M. Said shaft 1? has bent fingers 1) p secured thereto, the bent ends of which pass through slots or openings p p in the plate M, so as to lie across the ticket-passage m, and this is their normal position. Above the rock-shaft P is another rock-shaft, Q, fitted to turn or rock on the back of the plate M. This shaft Q is provided with bent fingers q q q q, and the shaft is weighted-as at (f, for example-so that the lower fingers, q q, extend through opening q" q" in the plate M, and project across the ticket-passage m. This is their normal position. The upper bent ends of the upper fingers, q q, are also adapted, when the shaft is rocked, to enter openings q q" in the plate M, and project across the ticket-passage m, in which event, of course, the lower fingers, q q, are withdrawn from across said ticket-passage. Above the rockshaft Q is another rock-shaft, Rffitted to turn on the plate Ill, and provided with bent fingers 1' r, the lower bent ends of which pass through openings 1")" in the plate M, and project across the ticket-passage way at, in the normal position of said shaft. Projecting rearwardly from said shaft is a lateral arm, It, which is an eleetric-circuit making and breaking arm. It carries contact wires or devices 9* r -two in this example-one of which, r dips into mercury-cups or makes contact with ICC IIO

electro conducting substance or contacts, forming part of the electric circuit, including the electromagnetic motor K.

I have before stated that the clock mechanism D controls the operation of the machine, and it is, consequently, automatic in its operation; and I have also stated that just before (preferably) a feeding operation of new tickets an alarm is sounded to announce the feeding operation. The tickets which have already been exhibited are discharged, prefer ably just before the sounding of the alarm, and the preferred connections with the clock mechanism are as follows: The rock-shaft O has a second lateral or crank arm, 0, linked or jointed to one end of a pivoted lever, S, the opposite end of which lever is fitted to engage the periphery of a cam, T, which is connected with or forms part of the clock mechanism, and is revolved oncefor example, at the end of every half minute. The pivoted bell-hainmer U is also attached to the lever S, near its outer end, the weight of which, with the connecting links and shafts, keeps the outer end'of the lever S down, and the inner end thereof bearing on the periphery of the cam T.

The operation of the machine is as follows: Supposing the ticket rack or box to be provided with a number of tickets the indications of which are to be successively exhibited at the windows of the machine, the circuit through the motor is completed, (for example, by a suitable circuit making and breaking key of ordinary construction, which may be mounted at a convenient pointon the base-board of the apparatus,) and its armature shaft rapidly revolves. The feedrollers, through the gearconneetion with the motor-shaft, also slowly revolve, and the lowermost ticket is fed forward through the ticket-slotm, and drops down upon the bent ends of the fingers p 1) of the rock-shaft I, which catch and prevent the passage of the ticket entirely through the passage m. The weight of the ticket pushes aside the fingers of the rock-shafts Q and R, and they offer no opposition to its passage. The position of the fed ticket is now such that its indication is exhibited at thelower one of thetwo exhibition windows b I), which openings may be double, to separate and render more distinct separate portions of the indications on the ticket. The electric circuit being still unbroken, another ticket is fed into the passageway m, and is caught and held upon the ends of the upper fingers, g g, of the rock-shaft Q, which fingers were projected across the ticketpassage by the camming action of the first ticket, which forced the lower fingers, q q, of said shaft outward, and holds them in that position, as the ticket is held and supported by the fingers r 19". There are now two tickets in the passageway, and the top one is exhibiting its indications through the upper window, b,.in the faceplate of the machine simultaneously with the exhibition ofthelower ticket through thelower window. The feeding of the second ticket stops the feeding operation, and this by reason of forcing out of the ticketpassage the ends of the fingers r r of the rock-shaft R and holding them out as long as the ticket is supported upon the fingers q q of the rock-shaft Q. The crowding out of the fingers r r obviously rocks the shaft B upwardly, and raises the outer contact end ofihe arm It, thus breaking the electric circuit and stopping the rotation of the electromagnetic motor. The two fed tickets thus stand exhibiting theirindications. When the interval between the revolutions of the cam T elapse and said cam is revolved, the inner end of the lever S is cammed down and its outer end raised, elevating the bell-hammcr, and, by theconnections p and rockshaft 0, also rocking upwardly the rock-shaft P. This withdraws the fingers p" p from across the ticketpassage m, and permits the lower ticket to drop out of said passage and be discharged. This lower ticket out of the way, the weighted rock-shaft Q also assumes its normal position, with its lower fingers entering the ticket-passage, and as its upper fingers are withdrawn, the upper ticket, no longer supported, in turn drops down, aud,pressing aside the lower fingers of the rockshaft Q, is also discharged out at the discharge-opening b in the face-plate B. Just at the completion of the discharge of the tickets from the passage m,the cam T has completed its revolution,and the weight of the parts causes the inner end of the lever S to drop back into the notch of said cam, and the hammer U to strike the bell U and announce another feeding operation,which takes place as before, from the fact that the motor is again started, owing to the making ofthe contact by the contact-arm R, which was released for that purpose when the upper ticket dropped upon the withdrawal of the supporting-fingers q q of the rock-shaft Q. The operation thus continues, and two tickets are fed successively and at regular intervals to exhibit their indications at the windows 7) b.

I have found it desirable, owing to the high speed which the motor shaft attains during the feeding operation, to auton'iatically discon nect-said shaft from the feed-rollers when the operation of said rollers is to ceaseon the feeding of the second ticket; otherwise a partial feeding ofa third ticket takes place, from the momentum of the motor-shaft after the circuit is broken by the feeding of the second ticket, and this tends to the disarrangement of the operation of the machine. I accomplish this by a clutch-connection, V, between the motorshaft and the pinion or gear I, and control the clutch by an electro-magnet, W, and a lever, W, said lever being connected with the clutch at one end, and having an armature, w, opposite said magnet at the other.

completed through the magnet Wby the con: tact wire or connection r of the contactarm R at the same time it is completed through the motor-coils, and the armature w is drawn to the magnet and the clutch thrown into driving-connection with the pinion I and geartrain H. Of course when the motor-circuit is ITO The circuit is of two separate letters is very distinct.

broken, the electromagnetic clutch-circuit is broken, and a spring, X,withdraws the clutch and disconnects the motor-shaft from the feed-' roller gearing, so that the revolution of the motor-shaft may come gradually to an end without feeding effect after the circuit is automatically broken at the end of the feeding operation. I have shown two separate circuits connecting the motor-coils and the clutchmagnet coils; but it is obvious that one circuit and battery may be u ed instead of two.

I have thus fully described my improvements as embodied in a machine for feeding tickets so as to exhibit the indications of two tickets at a time at separate windows. If the tickets contain illustrations of letters of the alphabet thereon, the contrast in form and appearance After a sufficient interval for instruction, two more contrasting letters are showmand so on,so that an automatic educational machineis produced, which may advantageously be employed in educating the young; or different tickets may have various advertisements thereon, to be rapidly exhibited in conspicuous places; or the machine may be used for playing games of amusement, or for exhibiting stock quotations, by having the name of a stock and a fraction of value thereon, the ticket appearing at the upper window indicating a rise in the price of the stock, and that at the lower window a depreciation of another stock.

I have devised special improvements in the clock mechanism, by which the cam T may be revolved at regular intervals-say every halfminute-and that matter will be duly claimed by me in another application. The manner of rotating the cam at the determined or desired intervals forms no part of the present application.

I do not claim the method herein described, as that forms the subject-matter of a separate application.

' I claim as my inventiona 1. The combination, with a vertical ticket rack or box, of a roller-feeding mechanismlocated in the lower end and forming the bottom of said rack or box, consisting of two or more flexible-faced rollers revolving in different planes, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination of a ticket-receptacle, ticket-feeding mechanism,a motor to drive said feed mechanism, and a clutch-connection between the motor and feed mechanism automatically operated by the action of the tickets in transit, as set forth.

3. The combination, in a ticket-exhibiting machine, of a ticket-feeding mechanism anda clutch connecting said mechanism with aprime motor, said clutch being automatically con trolled by the operation of feeding the tickets, as set forth.

4. The combination, in an automatic ticketeXhibiting machine, of a ticket-feeding mechanism located underaticket-reccptacle,and an electric motor, with a clutch-connection be tween said motor and feed mechanism automatically controlled by an electro-magnet,and a battery operating both motor and magnet si multaneously, as set forth.

5. In an automatic ticket-exhibitor, the com bination, with a ticket-receptacle, of a rollerfeeding mechanism located below said ticketreceptacle and in contact with the lower or undermost ticket, and means, substantially as described, for automatically controlling the feeding mechanism by the action of the fed tickets while falling by gravity when discharged from said feed mechanism, substantially as set forth.

6. In a ticket-exhibitor, the combination of a ticket-receptacle, the tickets within said receptacle, an electric motor, a feed mechanism for the tickets, and connections between said motor and feed mechanism to operate the feed and discharge the tickets, aclutch controlling said feed, a lever intermittently operated by the mechanism of a clock, and holding and releasing at intervals the tickets as they fall by gravity from the feed, as set forth.

7. The combination, in an automatic ticket exhibitor, of a ticket-receptacle, a ticket within said receptacle, and a ticket-feeding mechanism, an electric motor having connections with said feed mechanism to operate the same, a clutch which controls said feed, a lever intermittently operated by the mechanism of a clock, means for arresting and releasing the tickets as they fall by gravity from the feed mechanism, and for connecting and disconnecting the clutch from the feed mechanism, said means being controlled by the intermittent action of said lever, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature hereto in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY J. ENNIS.

Witnesses:

R. W. Bisnor, S. J. FRIEDENI-IEIMER. 

